Proud Affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights
It always feels good to be recognized for a job well done. For the Silver Knights Game Entertainment team, they are getting very accustomed to feeling terrific every summer.
Each summer, the annual IDEA Conference put forth by the Information Display and Entertainment Association recognizes industry excellence with the Golden Matrix Awards, celebrating the best of the best in the Event Presentation industry. For the fourth consecutive year, the Silver Knights were recognized as the best minor league sports production in the business.
Chandler Blanchard is the Silver Knights’ Senior Director of Entertainment, Experience and Production, and he has been at the helm of the Entertainment Team throughout the impressive run. His team also includes Senior Video Producer Trent Dieterle, Game Entertainment Manager Evan Depew and Video Producer Andrew Martinez.
That group also manages an extensive staff of crew members ranging from camera operators and stage managers to ice crew, Knights Guard, and control room operators. These are the people who make the show go on game night.
This group touches every aspect of the fan experience, from the production of the arena show at Lee’s Family Forum for Silver Knights and Knight Hawks games, to the games and activities fans enjoy in the stands and on the ice, to the video content on the video board and on team social channels, to the antics of Lucky and the other HSK cast members.
It is a lot to program and a lot to process for a broad audience, and an audience that you are always trying to impress with something new. But for Blanchard’s group, it’s just a matter of finding the fun.
“It’s very subjective, but for our group I think we throw out every idea we possibly can and we see what sticks,” said Blanchard, who joined the HSK in 2021. “Then we work backwards from there and decide how to make it possible to accomplish those big ideas.”
“But I think for us, as long as we’re having fun and seeing it translate to the fans, then we feel good. If we’re not having fun and not making ourselves laugh, then we know we have more work to do.”
Those ideas can come from anywhere, whether it be something the group saw on the internet or that happened to them personally, or even drawing from the experiences of coworkers in other departments. The Entertainment office, from which sound effects and random YouTube videos can be heard throughout the day, serves as a good-times laboratory for everyone in the lower levels of Lee’s Family Forum.
That attitude lends itself to finding creative and often outside-the-box inspiration to get fans on their feet or to bring the Silver Knights’ various theme nights to life.
“Any idea that pops in our mind, we write on the board and then try to narrow it down,” said Depew. “But there’s never a bad idea.”
“I like to think we’re a group of silly guys and we think a lot alike. When we throw out ideas, it’s often similar ideas we all share. I think the camaraderie between everyone in this department is in tune with the type of humor in the show we put on.”
And the spokespeople for those off-the-wall brainstorms are usually the HSK cast members, led by Lucky, Harold the Town Crier, and the Silver Knight. Most professional sports teams have a mascot at their disposal, but the Silver Knights’ Entertainment crew has the benefit of an entire performing troupe.
Those characters engage with fans throughout the game but also step out onto a grander stage on a nightly basis for elements that add a touch of ‘variety show’ to a hockey game, whether it be Harold’s rallying cry at the start of every game or the highly-produced parody videos that accompany many HSK theme nights.
“With Star Wars, taking something so loved by fans and to parody something that’s been loved for generations and rebrand it to our familiar faces and our cast, that’s where we get the most crowd pops,” said Depew.
Earning hardware at the IDEA Conference four years running requires more than just comedy and cleverness, however. The Silver Knights are held in high regard because of how they harness the energy of Lee’s Family Forum and use technology to elevate it.
Few AHL buildings devote the attention to detail on a nightly basis that Blanchard’s team does, with highly-produced and unique hype videos opening each game and on-ice projection technology bringing the imagery of Silver Knights hockey to life. With the Silver Knights trying to emulate the high standards set by the Vegas Golden Knights, the team is always looking for ways to raise the wow factor.
“We like to have a big challenge in front of us, and this year is going to be a huge challenge with how much we are trying to accomplish,” said Blanchard. “We’re using the summer to get a head. Everyone else is upping their game and we’re trying to compete with them and also with ourselves.”
It also helps when the on-ice product is giving fans reason to cheer as well. The Silver Knights enjoyed their best statistical season in franchise history in 2025-26, giving the Entertainment squad a lot to work with. But regardless of the scoreboard, the show must go on.
“We can’t control what’s happening on the ice, but even on nights when the team loses we can put on a great show and keep it entertaining and memorable,” said Depew. “You may not look back on the game and remember the score, but you’ll remember the experience and that’s our goal.”
To keep that show entertaining, this group will continue to highlight the trends and maybe even set a few of their own. The team has always tried to be at the front of the technological curve, and with artificial intelligence sure to poke its head further into the arena theatrical space in the near future, the group will continue to work hard to learn the new tools of amusement in real time.
That ever-changing landscape can be exciting, or intimidating, as creators continue to reinvent the wheel. For the Silver Knights leadership, it’s just more opportunity for a group that provides results again and again.
“It is a tremendous achievement for the HSK Entertainment team to win this award four year in a row,” said Golden Knights Chief Business Officer Rob Foley. “The team continues to push the creative envelope every season, with every theme knight, finding new ways to hype up the crowd and help tell a compelling story on and off the ice. They are truly setting the standard for minor league sports entertainment and exceeding that standard each season.”
It’s a challenging job, and with challenging expectations to uphold. Yet the results come pretty naturally when one just focuses on the fun.
“I think it’s authentic to who we are. We want to put on a good show for the fans because we also want to put on a good show for us,” said Blanchard. “We take a lot of pride in what we do, and I think it’s always good for us to keep pushing the envelope in getting better. I don’t think any of us are satisfied, and we want to continue to get better every day and push each other to put out a better product.”
The HSK Entertainment team’s next chapter of big ideas will begin on October 3 at Lee’s Family Forum. We know that fans, and the industry, will be watching.